Syringe pumps, or drivers, are small infusion pumps used to gradually administer fluids from a syringe to a patient. When administering drugs (e.g. painkillers, antiemetics, etc.) syringe pumps prevent periods during which the medication levels in the blood are too high or too low, and prevent a patient from having to repeatedly take tablets or pills. Additionally, syringe pumps are effective at administering medication over many minutes or hours and often reduce errors by caretakers. One particular use of syringe pumps is in the field of enteral feeding administration. For example, syringe pumps are especially useful for the administration of breast milk (or suitable substitutes), formula, medication, nutritional supplements or other enteral fluids in the care and treatment of neonatal children.
Syringes can also be used with gravity feed systems, for example, when administering nutrients and/or medications to a neonatal patient. When administering fluids to a patient via a gravity-feed system, the syringe plunger can be removed from the syringe body to prevent a vacuum from developing inside the syringe as the fluid leaves the syringe and enters the patient. The removal of the plunger from the syringe body is often seen as a drawback to this process and requires that a user take special care in storing the plunger while the syringe is being utilized. In the past, users have strapped the plunger to the syringe body or otherwise stored the plunger on a sterile tray or other location to avoid permanently separating these components. Removing the plunger from the syringe body can expose the contents of the syringe to unwanted pathogens, dust or other foreign matter, which can be harmful to a patient.
To alleviate the need for removing the plunger from the syringe to allow for venting, syringes have been developed to provide venting while at least a portion of the plunger is still engaged with the syringe, for example, so that the drawbacks of potentially exposing the plunger to unwanted pathogens, dust or foreign matter is eliminated. U.S. Published patent application Ser. No. 13/231,185, Patent Application Publication No. US 2012/0071853 and U.S. Published patent application Ser. No. 14/614,156, Patent Application Publication No. US 2015/0148753, show vented syringes for use with gravity feed systems, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
When administering fluids to a patient via a gravity feed system, it is generally desirable to hang the syringe and plunger assembly at a position above the patient that is receiving the fluids from the syringe. Some syringes may include a handle mounted to the syringe body for permitting hanging. Alternatively, a hole or tether can be provided on a flange of a syringe plunger for hanging the syringe. U.S. Published patent application Ser. No. 14/224,297, Patent Application Publication No. US 2014/0207098, shows a vented syringe plunger including a tether provided thereon, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
In some instances, modifications made to a syringe to allow for hanging for use with gravity feed applications can negatively affect compatibility of the syringe with metering pumps. Thus, it can be seen that needs exist for improved syringes having a plunger that can be utilized for hanging in gravity-feed applications, and that is compatible with metering pumps in applications.
It is to the provision of a syringe having a hinged plunger flange meeting these and other needs that the present invention is primarily directed.